About Temple University basketball
The Temple Men's basketball program is currently ranked 6th in All-Time NCAA wins with 1711, (starting the 2009/2010 season). They are in good company, with only Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, and Syracuse having a higher total)
Temple is recognized as having won the first-ever National Collegiate basketball championship in 1938, under Coach James Usilton. That Owls team, which finished with a 23-2 record, won the inaugural National Invitation Tournament by routing Colorado 60-36 in the championship final. Because the NCAA Tournament was not held until the following year, Temple's NIT championship earned the Owls the first national college basketball title. During the 1950s, the Temple basketball team made two NCAA Final Four appearances (1956, 1958) under legendary Head Coach Harry Litwack. Litwack would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame after concluding a 21-year coaching career that included 373 wins.
Head Coach John Chaney, who is also a Hall of Fame coach, won a total of 724 career games and took Temple to the NCAA tournament 17 times. His 1987-88 Owls team entered the NCAA tournament ranked #1 in the country, and he has reached the Elite Eight on five different occasions. He was consensus national coach of the year in 1988. Current NBA players Eddie Jones of the Miami Heat, Aaron McKie of the Los Angeles Lakers, Rick Brunson of the New York Knicks, and Mardy Collins of the New York Knicks continue to enhance Temple's proud basketball heritage.
On April 10, 2006, University of Pennsylvania head coach and La Salle University alumnus Fran Dunphy was named the new Temple's Men's Head Basketball coach after Chaney's retirement after the 2006 season. Dunphy had coached the Quakers for 17 straight seasons prior to the move. Dunphy and the Owls won the Atlantic-10 tournament in 2008 and won a spot in the NCAA Men's Basketball bracket. In 2009, the Owls won their second consecutive Atlantic-10 tournament, for their conference leading 8th A-10 title.
The Women's Basketball Team was guided by head coach and three time Olympic Gold Medalist, Dawn Staley from 1999 to 2008. Under Staley's leadership, Temple earned 6 NCAA Appearances (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008). Staley was named the head coach for the University of South Carolina on May 7, 2008. She is succeeded by Tonya Cardoza a former assistant coach from basketball powerhouse, the University of Connecticut. As an assistant coach, Cardoza was instrumental in leading the University of Connecticut to 5 National Championships (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004). Cardoza was introduced as the head coach for the Temple Owls on July 1, 2008.